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“Is it just me, or does this seem too easy?” Noah mused, tapping a long finger against his chin.
I nodded. “Definitely.”
I caught Liam’s arm as he started forwards, tugging him back beside me as I shook my head.
“It’s too easy,” I repeated, turning to aim a small burst of power at the doorway as if it were another exit.
With a surge of light, flames flashed across the surface, the heat of them making my eyes water as they shot a few feet out into the passage and narrowly missed us. The fire died away as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving an arch of glowing runes in its wake, smoking around the frame of the door as the scent of burnt wood hit my nose.
“Well, shit,” Zeke muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.
I eyed the runes that were now helping to light up the space, grimacing as I realised just how many of them that I didn’t recognise at all. Noticing the guys’ focus was on me, I shrugged and raised my hands again, shooting a stronger arc of power this time and resting my hands on my hips with a huff of annoyance as the outcome was the same.
By the time I had tried using my magic on every etched rune, in every way possible, the guys had sunk down to sit against the far wall and I was running low on power. No matter what I did, the doorway’s defences fired back. Literally. Dropping my head back, I groaned up at the low ceiling in irritation, fatigue leeching through me after being stood here for hours and achieving nothing.
The runes made no sense to me. The ones that I could read didn’t fit any kind of pattern or spell that I could figure out, and I could only guess at what the others meant. With a small noise of frustration, I slumped down to sit beside Noah, who caught me before I made it to the floor and tugged me into his lap.
“This can’t be it,” I snapped. “We can’t have come all this way to get stuck here.”
Zeke reached out to gently squeeze my thigh. “There’s no rush, you’ll figure it out.”
Liam scoffed, raising a brow at me as I glared at him. “No rush? We’re sitting ducks here, and you’re using up too much magic trying to crack through.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm as I waved magnanimously at the door. “If you’re so damn smart, why don’t you give it a try?”
He stood, brushing down his pants and turning to face the doorway. I jumped to my feet and grabbed the back of his shirt as he took a step towards it, hissing at him as he batted my hand away.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
The smirk on his face made me want to smack him. Fear trickled through me as he stepped closer to the glowing runes on the door, putting himself well within the path of the flames.
“Trying something,” he answered. “It’s a door. Did you think about trying the handle?”
I made a short sound of disbelief as he took another step. “I was kind of distracted by all the magic protecting it and trying to singe my face off, if I’m honest. But please, let’s find out if you’re still hot without eyebrows.”
Folding my arms, I let my challenge hang in the air, ignoring his low chuckle at my attitude. But as he took the final few paces to the silent doorway, my panic took over and I tried to follow after him, only to find myself lifted off my feet by a strong arm around my waist.
I growled as I struggled against Zeke’s hold, trying to push his arm off me as Liam reached for the unassuming silver handle.
“Let me go, I need to help him before…”
We all fell still at the sound of a metallic click, staring at the door as it calmly swung open, its hinges creaking slightly from disuse. Disbelief rocketed through me at the simplicity of it, quickly followed by a short rush of irritation at my wasted efforts. Then a laugh burst from my lips.
“Oh my gods,” I croaked as I tried to bite back my laughter, the others all staring at me as if I had gone insane. “She covered the thing in spells, but didn’t actually lock it?”
Noah grinned along with me, reaching out to steady my balance as Zeke released his tight hold on my waist.
“Her arrogance didn’t let her consider the idea that a shifter might get this close,” Zeke murmured as my chuckles died down. “It was only warded against witches and magic.”
I examined the arch over the door as I stepped closer, noting that the burnt rune markings had all disappeared without a trace now that the door was open. Liam was busy peering into the dim space beyond as I slowly approached, a part of me still expecting some defences to appear.
The scent of stale sage and old parchment hit my nose as we crept forward. Along with something else that made my nose wrinkle in distaste.
“What is that smell?” I whispered as we all moved into the shadowy chamber, the guys spreading out to examine the space.
“Something is dead in here,” Liam rumbled softly in reply.
Noah hummed his agreement. “More than one thing, going by the scents I’m picking up. There’s fresh death but it’s not covering the long-term rot.”
